Changes don't have to be drastic to be effective. So rather than flipping your entire work schedule upside down, it's easier to start small; block off 60 minutes at the start of your peak work times for whatever your day's priority might happen to be, and start there.

Remember that the brain, like the body, needs rest. Allow employees to take advantage of brief downtime several times a day so they return to their desks mentally refreshed. Respect their vacation time with their family and friends.

Wondering how to improve your team's employee engagement and productivity at work? An engaged, productive workforce is the lifeblood of company success. But sometimes leaders take the wrong approach and end up harming their workforce culture instead of nurturing it.

Many helicopter bosses feel the need to hover in order to monitor efficiency, or to keep things on track, especially if an employee has erred in the past. But most micromanagers do so out of a need for control that often has more to do with them than the performance of their employees.

Through my work with Citizen Schools, I've seen firsthand the dramatic impact that Citizen Teachers can have on young minds, but as a professor of management in the school of business at the University of Vermont, what I am really fascinated by is research findings showing that many employees respond positively when their employer provides opportunities to serve their communities. I've been conducting studies to understand why.

The same educational mode has persisted since the 1800s -- if not since Aristotle. Students and their classmates sit within the same walls and absorb rote knowledge from one teacher at a time. And woe to those who fail to show up for the morning bell or to follow the lesson plan!

People want contentment, love and happiness derived from meaningful work. But with only 24 hours in a day, is it even possible? How can you as a manager, facilitate your employees' happiness and consequently increase your company's success as well as your own?

So how do you excel at work? Most of us think we have to go the extra mile. Work harder. Take more on. Wrong.The real secret to excelling at work is learning to better fuel your body and soul. In this case, we're talking about learning how to thrive. Follow these three easy steps.